TUCP slams Finance for tax push

The labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines slammed the Department of Finance for pushing the Corporate Income Tax Incentives Reform Act without consulting the labor sector, saying more than 700,000 workers would be displaced if the new tax scheme should become a law.

“Our economic managers, led by the Finance department, is (sic) about to push thousands of workers to fall through the cracks by introducing Citira tax scheme in the same way they shove workers and their families’ throat with the TRAIN Law inflation with no consultations with grossly affected workers’ sector,” TUCP president Raymond Mendoza said in a statement.

Firms affected by the process may close down and transfer to another location or may be forced to cut jobs and displace around 703,000 workers.

The DOF is seeking Congress’ approval for the second package of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program, known as the CITIRA bill.

The measure seeks to entice investors by lowering the corporate income tax to 20 percent from the current 30 percent by overhauling the tax incentives enjoyed by firms.

Citira is the renamed version of the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-Quality Opportunities bill that the House had passed in the previous 17th Congress.

The Trabaho bill, however, ran out of time in the Senate and had to be refiled in the 18th Congress.

The measure would also remove certain tax perks enjoyed by companies in the country.

The Citira bill retains the current incentives for two years, for investors to have enough time to adjust to the new tax scheme. Perks would also be targeted, time-bound, and transparent.

Though the measure allotted P500-million annual budget for grants and support programs of the Department of Labor and Employment for displaced workers in companies affected by the corporate income tax adjustments, the TUCP accused the DOF ignoring workers plight when it comes to the implementation of the law.

“Workers got nothing from TRAIN Law despite of the budget provisions it has for affected sector. Now our white-collared Finance people are again deliberately playing dice on the lives of workers and their families by dangling an annual budget provisions for displaced workers and by sugarcoating CITIRA with a million jobs it supposes to create,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza said the P500 million yearly budget for CITIRA-displaced workers is highly insufficient compared with the day-to-day expenses amid rising cost of living created by TRAIN Law.

“How did they arrive with the amount? How many firms would really be affected by CITIRA? How many workers would really be affected? What are these government programs that could save the thousands of displaced workers?” said Mendoza.

The TUCP is proposing a genuine transition program for displaced workers prior to the implementation of CITIRA and not after its implementation.

The group is asking the economic managers for labor consultations on CITIRA and on other programs and policy reforms affecting the labor sector. - Vito Barcelo

TUCP party-list files security of tenure legislation as HB 4892

Philstar file photo

THE TRADE UNION Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) Party-list said it has filed its version of the Security of Tenure bill, one of various versions of the legislation in play seeking to end the practice of contractualization after a previous bill passed by Congress was vetoed.

TUCP Party-list Rep. Raymond C. Mendoza filed House Bill No. 4892 which if passed will be known as the Security of Tenure Act of 2019. It seeks to criminalize all forms of contractualization and ban all forms of fixed-term employment.

Contractualization, also known as “endo,” denies workers a pathway to permanent employment and benefits, typically by terminating employment before the 6-month deadline for achieving permanent status and forcing workers to sign up again also on a contract basis.

“The bill seeks to provide security of tenure to 9 million Filipino ‘endo’ workers who are being exploited today in a modern form of slave labor […] Endo workers experience not being paid the minimum wage, even as they go without social security, Philhealth and PAG-IBIG coverage. Further they are denied their Constitutional rights to organize and to bargain,” Mr. Mendoza said in a statement.

The measure aims to totally prohibit contracting, subcontracting, manpower agency hiring, and outsourcing, including those undertaken by so-called service cooperatives engaged in manpower supply.

“This Bill seeks to criminalize labor-only contracting which is already prohibited under our existing laws but is perpetually being circumvented to deprive workers of their Constitutionally-guaranteed rights to Security of Tenure,” according to the bill’s explanatory note.

Under the bill, all employees regardless of employment status or position cannot be dismissed without cause or due process.

The measure also provides that all employees, except those under probation, be considered regular including project-based and seasonal employees.

HB 4892 also prescribes fines of P50,000 to P5 million, and imprisonment of six months to one year for violators.

In his July 26 veto message to the Senate, President Rodrigo R. Duterte said that while he stands firm in his commitment to protect the workers’ right to security of tenure, the enrolled bill “unduly broadens” the scope of labor-only contracting, which is already banned by law. — Vince Angelo C. Ferreras

Labor sets protests vs security of tenure bill junking; refiling next

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LABOR groups will mount a mass demonstration on Monday to signal the start of a series of protest expected to culminate in a big indignation rally over the junking of the security of tenure (SOT) bill last week.

Partido Manggagawa (PM) said the first wave of protests will be held in Metro Manila and Cebu to show the outrage of workers over President Duterte’s decision to veto the bill, which took nearly two decades to go through the legislative mill before getting bicameral approval, only to be scuttled at the last minute as business groups mounted a last-ditch lobby against it.

“The security of tenure bill is the latest victim of killing under the Duterte regime. Workers vow to continue the fight to end ‘Endo,‘” declared Wilson Fortaleza, spokesman of Partido Manggagawa, referring to Duterte’s 2016 campaign promise to “end Endo [end of contract],” the catch-all term for illegal contractualization.

Dubbed the “Black Monday Protest,” the noise barrage in Metro Manila will be attended by members of PM, Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (Sentro) and Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), at the Boy Scout Circle in Quezon City at 5 p.m.

Sentro Secretary-General Joshua Mata said the militant labor group will also hold a small protest action in Mendiola, Manila, in the morning.

The Cebu protest will be held at the Gate 1 of the Mactan Economic Zone in Lapu-Lapu City, also at 5 p.m. “After these events, labor groups will be meeting to discuss the big indignation rally,” Mata said.

During these demonstrations, Fortaleza said they will hold Duterte accountable for “killing” the SOT bill in favor of business interests.
Local and foreign business groups had campaigned against the SOT as crafted by the 17th Congress, despite observations the final version—the Senate bill as adopted by the House of Representatives—was “watered down.”

According to an exclusive BusinessMirror report, a briefing paper sent to Duterte by some employers estimated that in manufacturing alone, business will have to shell out P49 billion annually as additional cost to comply with the measure if it is signed into law.

“Workers will not forget this betrayal by Duterte of his promise to end Endo. He is parroting the lame capitalist alibi that businesses will die if workers are made regular. Duterte’s promise to end Endo is dead,” Fortaleza said.

Refiling next

The protests also aim to drum up public support for their renewed attempt to have the SOT bill refiled in the 18th Congress.

According to labor leaders, several lawmakers have already committed to file the SOT bill, including Senators Joel Villanueva and Risa Hontiveros, and Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) Party-list Representative Raymond Mendoza.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto prodded Malacañang at the weekend to convene a tripartite summit before it submits to Congress its version of another SOT bill, to avert another veto.

This, even as Villanueva ruled out a congressional override option to reverse the Palace veto.

“Override is an option but I don’t think it’s a viable solution,” Villanueva said over the weekend, adding that “some lawmakers are not comfortable with it.

Villanueva, however, confirmed his readiness to refile the vetoed measure.

“We will refile the bill because it is the right thing to do,” Villanueva vowed.

Palace told: Write own version

For his part, Recto signaled determination to push passage of the bill. “But this time, the Executive Branch should write its own version and send it to Congress with an attached presidential certification as to its urgency,” Recto said, adding: “If it has changed its mind, then the version it now wants must be in black and white, so nothing will be lost in translation.”

Recto explained this is needed because the Palace veto message did not cite the specific provisions that triggered the veto.

“Let the burden of proposition fall on them this time,” the Senate President Pro Tempore said. “But this will be for the information of Congress only, and should not mean that it must be the one passed en toto.”

Better still, Recto recommended that Malacañang convene a tripartite summit on endo, with business, labor and the government in a frank exchange of views.

“Last, this episode underscores once again the need to strengthen its liaison work with Congress. I sympathize with Senator Villanueva who had worked hard on this bill…This was not an easy bill to write. Joel made sure that it was a balanced one. It was a tightrope act under stormy conditions.

Senate Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri recalled it was Duterte who reminded lawmakers about the Security of Tenure bill in his State of the Nation Address in 2018, only to veto it.

“The Cabinet should get their act together as it would make us legislators look stupid and embarrass the President as well, as he mentions these measures during the Sona,” Zubiri said. - By Samuel P. Medenilla & Butch Fernandez

‘Scare tactics’ by bizmen behind SOT bill veto

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MANILA – The usually moderate Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), touted as the country’s biggest labor union, squarely placed on businessmen’s shoulders the blame for the major setback in the enactment of the Security of Tenure Bill, also known as the “End Endo Bill”.

TUCP spokesman Allan Tanjusay said the labor group “blames the scare tactics and deception of capitalists, both local and foreign businesses, for misleading President Duterte in rejecting the bill because it would disincentivize business and investors.”

Permanently putting an end to the often-exploitative practice of labor only contractualization was one of the president’s campaign promises, he added.

The measure aims to outlaw the practice of labor-only contracting or endo (end of contract) which the employers’ sector have been known to perpetuate in order to limit the benefits extended to workers and allow for easy termination of services.

“Business groups threatened our government with frightening scenarios of capital flight, relocation, and increased costs. We remind the foreign chambers, the employers, and the economic managers that dirt cheap and exploitative labor policies are no longer come-ons for investments,” Tanjusay added.

Meantime, a statement released by Malacañang following the bill’s veto said that Duterte merely wants to see some revisions on the bill, to promote fairness and retain ease of doing business in the country, which he also works on to invite more investors to come into the country.

“Our goal has always been to target the abuse while leaving business free to engage in those practices beneficial to both management and workforce,” the president’s statement read.

With the bill expected to be filed again in the 18th Congress, the Palace has reportedly pointed out certain provisions in the measure that need to be changed by its proponents.

This includes allowing certain forms of contractualization that do not specifically do harm to employees, instead of legislating a wholesale ban on short-term labor contracts. The proposed law should also take into account that policies adopted to protect workers should not “oppress or destroy” capital. (PNA)

Workers’ groups, solons slam Duterte ‘betrayal’

File photo / Philstar

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines slammed foreign businessmen and their chambers of commerce for interfering in the country’s domestic policy following President Rodrigo Duterte’s veto of the proposed Security of Tenure bill.

“They are engaged in an unwarranted interference in the purely domestic affairs of the Filipino people. They are also infringing [on] our sovereignty. We remind these businessmen and chambers that while we welcome their investments, it should not be at the expense of denying what should rightly be regular jobs for Filipinos,” the group said in a statement Friday.

The TUCP said it took 19 years in Congress for the SOT bill to reach this stage, only to have it blocked by those who “stand in the way of the struggle of Filipino workers and their families’ struggle for decent work through secure and regular jobs.”

The Department of Labor and Employment and labor groups had thrown their full support for the bill.

On Friday, they said President Duterte’s veto would enable companies to keep hiring contractual workers who will be terminated after only five months and rehired on the same contractual basis, as a way to avoid regularizing their workers.

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines, on the other hand, welcomed the veto.

“We’re very glad that Malacañang has finally made up its mind that the security of tenure bill will only lead to loss of jobs and investments,” ECOP president Sergio Ortiz-Luis said.

He said ECOP would police its own ranks to end abusive contractual practices.

Duterte clearly turned his back on workers, the TUCP said.

“The most democratic and most peaceful struggle of ordinary workers out of their poverty trap to endo are shut by a man who promised to introduce genuine change and uplift them,” TUCP President Raymond Mendoza said in a statement.

“President Duterte certified the security of tenure bill as an urgent measure in his 2018 State of the Nation Address, saying he did not have the power to end endo and only Congress, which has the legislative power, could do this. Now that Congress has acted on his certification, why veto something he certified as an urgent national bill?”

The TUCP also said the bill was not a disincentive to businesses, who could still hire seasonal and contractual workers.

The Pagkakaisa ng Timog Katagalugan-Kilusang Mayo Uno denounced the President’s veto as a betrayal of his campaign promise to end contractualization.

“Duterte has only put the nail on the coffin on the workers’ call for regular jobs under his administration, Similarly, there remains no justice for the more than 30,000 workers in the Southern Tagalog region that have been declared regular workers but have not returned even for a single minute as regular workers,” Pamantik-KMU said in a statement.

“In light of his betrayal against the people, we enjoin the call to intensify the workers’ fights outside the walls of Congress,” the group said.

Senator Joel Villanueva on Friday led senators in expressing disappointment over the presidential veto, while vowing to refile and prioritize the bill for the 18th Congress.


“Unfortunately, profit wins again with the veto of the SOT bill,” said Villanueva, who chaired the Senate labor committee.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the upper chamber “will refile and prioritize [it]. We will find an acceptable version.”

In a separate text message to GMA News, Sotto said he was “crestfallen but that’s how democracy works, and Congress, being dynamic, can refile [and have the bill passed again].”


Minority Leader Franklin Drilon also said he was saddened with the President’s decision because the Senate worked hard for its passage, as it was certified as urgent.

He said the bill can be refiled but the executive branch “must first get its act together.”

“We have frontline departments [DOLE and NEDA] with opposing views. We are unclear as to what the policy is. The bill passed by Congress essentially mirrors DOLE’s position but apparently the NEDA has a different one—which was eventually concurred with by the President,” Drilon said in a statement.

In the House of Representatives, Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas denounced the veto, calling it the President’s “biggest betrayal” of Filipino workers.

She said she and her fellow legislators would file a “stronger” anti-contractualization bill that would plug all the loopholes in the law that allow businesses to engage in job contracting.

“President Duterte’s veto of the security of tenure bill exposes his full allegiance to big businesses which lobbied hard against the measure,” Brosas said. “Despite certifying the measure as urgent and despite prominently vowing to end contractualization during the campaign period, the President pandered to the pleasure of business chambers by killing the anti-endo bill.”

Brosas accused Duterte of acting “in absolute compliance to the business sector’s demand not to sign the security of tenure law in utter disregard of his campaign promise. Duterte chose big business over workers and even over himself.”

“It is very clear in the veto message that the President wants to allow businesses to have the upper hand in outsourcing jobs “regardless of whether this is directly related to their business.”

“This essentially means unli-job contracting that will trap more workers in short-term, low-paying, and unsafe employment,” Brosas added.

Parañaque City Rep. Joy Tambunting said Congress would need to find “a better compromise between labor and management.”

Tambunting is the wife of former Parañaque City Rep. Gus Tambunting, who was the principal author of the measure at the House of Representatives during the 17th Congress. - Joel E. Zurbano and Maricel V. Cruz

Labor group: Vetoing ‘anti-endo’ bill ‘really hurt’ contractual workers, their families

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MANILA—The President's decision to veto a bill that would have given temporary workers secure employment "really hurt" laborers and their families, a union group said on Friday.

Alan Tanjusay, spokesman for the Associated Labor Unions—Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP), said the group was disappointed for contractual workers who had hoped that President Rodrigo Duterte would fulfill his promise to stop "endo," the colloquial term for hiring and dismissing workers in fixed cycles.

"We are saddened for the millions of endo workers and their families dahil matagal silang umasa. They hoped for the President for so long, hoping that before the end of Duterte's term that he would fulfill his promise to address head-on the issue of poverty caused by endo," Tanjusay said Friday in an interview with ANC.

"It really hurt us because this is the President's campaign promise and he said he would not renege on his promise to end contractualization."

Duterte vetoed the Security of Tenure (SOT) bill authored by Sen. Joel Villanueva, despite his promise during his presidential campaign to stop contractualization and help in granting full-time employment status and corresponding benefits to contractual workers.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo announced the veto of the bill after retracting his statement late Thursday that the President rejected the measure.
Duterte vetoes 'security of tenure' bill, says spokesman

"So this is a non-fulfillment of his (Duterte's) promise and he's turning his back away on the workers," Tanjusay said.

The spokesman stressed the bill was a "chance" for contractual workers to "experience the economic gains the country has been experiencing."

"Mataas ang ating ekonomiya, yumayaman ang ating bansa, lumalaki ang profits ng companies, pero hindi po sila nakikinabang dito sa economic wealth na ito na sila mismo ay naging bahagi," Tanjusay said.

According to him, there is no more middle ground between the President and contractual workers.

"We don't see any middle ground because the SOT bill is the middle ground," Tanjusay said.

Duterte, he said, "might take a hit on his political capital" for rejecting the bill. - ABS-CBN News

Govt cheers deeds; labor jeers anti-SOT tack

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AS government patted its back on accomplishing regularization of 471,394 contractual workers, labor groups slammed employers for pushing for the outright veto of the pending Security of Tenure (SOT) bill.

Labor Assistant Secretary Benjo Santos M. Benavidez told the BusinessMirror the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) was already able, as of July, to facilitate the regularization of nearly half-a-million contractual workers.

Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III considers this as a result of the government’s campaign.

“The regularization of almost 500,000 contractuals is a big thing,” Bello said. “It is unprecedented.”

The labor chief said these figures could still rise especially if President Duterte will opt to sign the pending SOT bill, which imposes additional restriction for contractual work arrangements.

“I am sure and quite positive we will get a positive reaction from the President. After all, this is certified [SOT] bill,” Bello said.
‘Wrong assumption’

HOWEVER, labor groups slammed employers for pushing for the outright veto of the SOT bill based on a wrong assumption.

Last week, local and foreign business groups submitted a letter to Duterte to appeal to him to junk the SOT bill, claiming it was already redundant with the provisions of Executive Order (EO) 51 and the DOLE Order 174.

Labor coalition Nagkaisa chairman and Federation of Free Workers (FFW) President Jose Matula called the assessment “unrealistic,” citing the thousands of workers who fall prey to arbitrary contractualization.

“With due respect the business leaders claiming that the old rules is enough to solve Endo, it appears they are out of touch of reality with the situation of millions of workers,” Matula told the BusinessMirror.

Endo is the acronym for “end of contract,” an illegal form of contractualization wherein workers are repetitively hired and rehired by their employers for the purpose of circumventing their right to be regularized.
Mutually beneficial

Last May, the DOLE reported it was able to facilitate the regularization of around 400,000 workers since 2016 from 3,377 firms, which were found or suspected of engaging in illegal forms of contractualization.

Many of the said employers claimed they were not aware that some of their positions cannot be legally contracted out since they are part of the company’s “core” business.

The process of determining if a position is “core or non-core” has been the subject of numerous labor disputes due to contradicting interpretations from management and labor unions.

Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) Spokesman Alan Tanjusay said the passage of the SOT bill will aid in ending this contentious issue.

He said it is this mutually beneficial nature of the SOT bill that makes them confident that Duterte will back the legislation.

“The SOT bill, when approved into law, as it is, will identify the jobs that can be contracted out and what are those that can only be regularized,” Tanjusay said. “This will help employers to plan better and cope with demands of the modern times.”

Matula explained the process of this determination will be done through the Industry Tripartite Council, which has representatives from both employers and labor groups.

Bello earlier said the bill was already transmitted to Malacañang last June 21 for Duterte’s consideration.

‘Unparalleled’

But even without the SOT bill, Bello said Duterte’s accomplishment on contractualization policy is already unparalleled, which is why he endorsed this achievement together with the soon-to-be constructed overseas Filipino workers (OFW) Hospital in Pampanga to become part of the President’s upcoming State of the Nation Address (Sona) later this month.

The construction of the first- ever OFW-dedicated hospital in the country, Bello said, is expected to start by July 15.

Malacañang said Duterte’s Sona this year will focus more on the administration’s poverty alleviation programs to show the government’s malasakit or concern to Filipinos. - By Samuel P. Medenilla

Showdown seen over ‘End of Endo’ at bicam

ALU-TUCP Spokesman Alan Tanjusay (Photo from DWIZ)

LABOR leaders on Thursday said they will be ready to counter possible attempts from government economic managers and business groups to derail the passage of the Security of Tenure (SOT) bill as it goes through the bicameral conference next week.

In a statement, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) Vice President Louie Corral said it is wary of a possible intervention from the Department of Finance (DOF) to derail the SOT.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III had already rejected the House version of the bill before it was passed on third and final reading with an overwhelming vote of support from congressmen in 2017, Corral recalled.

“We still fear that DOF Secretary Dominguez will move to kill the worker’s bill as it goes to the Bicameral Conference Committee next week,” Corral said.

He said similar opposition may also be raised by the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) and the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce.

Corral said they are now preparing to quash such attempts with sound data and mass mobilization during the bicameral conference.

“Our research team will be doing quick-response table studies and position papers to counter the false and misleading legal and economic arguments being advanced by DOF,
Ecop and the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce,” Corral said.

He said other members of labor coalition Nagkaisa will also continue their lobby during the last phase of the passage of the SOT bill.

This was confirmed by Nagkaisa Spokesman and Partido Manggagawa Chairman Renato Magtubo.

“We will fight it out in the bicam,” Magtubo told the BusinessMirror in an SMS.

No compromise

TUCP said they are perplexed by the opposition of business groups on the SOT bill since it will not outlaw the contractual scheme, but only restrict its practice.

This, TUCP Spokesman Alan Tanjusay said, was already a big compromise for labor leaders, who were initially demanding for the outright abolition of contractualization.

“We have already taken a crucial step backward from [an] absolute, total ban of ‘Endo’ position to permissive and allowable job contracting because we recognize employers and business flexibility,” Tanjusay told the BusinessMirror in an SMS.

“We cannot and we will not take more step backward. We will stand our ground. No more compromise,” he added.

The SOT bill has been dubbed “End of Endo” bill because it was seen as a way of curbing the widespread practice of hiring workers under short-term contracts (hence, Endo for “end of contract”) which expire before they qualify for permanent employment under existing law.

Labor groups are optimistic the SOT bill, which was certified as urgent by President Duterte, will be finally enacted into law after the Senate passed its own version of the legislation on Wednesday.

This has been the farthest the bill has been in being made into a law since it was first proposed two decades ago.

“This is a major victory for workers today…We should maintain the momentum and work double time so that the Bicameral Conference Committee could submit a version of the bill that could be ratified at once by both chambers of Congress,” Nagkaisa Chairman and Federation of Free Workers President Sonny Matula said in a statement.

Based on the estimates of labor groups, around 15 million workers in contractual work arrangements will benefit from the passage of the SOT bill. - By Samuel P. Medenilla

A day before Labor Day, groups call for end to contractualization, wage increase

A day before the observance of Labor Day, groups Nagkaisa Labor Coalition and Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) on Tuesday called for an end to contractualization among workers.

"We have long and consistently called for a just end to pervasive contractualization of labor, yet the practice of labor-only contracting, job-only contracting and other forms of flexible labor remain prevalent among the working people," KMU chairperson Elmer Labog said in a statement.

Attorney Sonny Matula, chairperson of Nagkaisa and a senatorial candidate, vowed that the labor movement would "defend workers' rights to the last."

"With enough political will, President Rodrigo Duterte and his allies in the Senate can still have a Security of Tenure Law enacted during this Congress," Matula said.

"This will definitely continue the pressure on the Senate, especially its reelectionist senators to openly declare either their support or opposition to the proposed End Endo law,” he added.

Duterte during the 2016 presidential campaign promised to abolish "endo" or the practice of contractualization.

In 2018, Duterte inked Executive Order 51 which prohibits the illegal contracting and sub-contracting of workers “by all parties including cooperatives.”

According to Labog, the said EO as well as the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Order 174 in 2017 both failed to solve and instead worsened contractualization in the country.

"This is unacceptable. We cannot legitimize labor-only contractors, who do nothing but recruit and deploy workers, yet maintain supervision over contractual workers on paper," Labog said.

"They connive with principal business owners to deprive workers of security of tenure and other basic labor rights, while avoiding legal and financial obligations,” he added.

Wage increase

Meanwhile, the labor groups also called for an increase in wages, especially the fulfillment of a national minimum wage.

"A significant wage hike is long overdue. The sharp increase in inflation and cost of living has already eroded the value of existing wages. We call for an immediate wage increase and a national minimum wage for all workers in the country," Labog said.

In a separate Balitanghali report by GMA News' Mark Salazar, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) is calling for an additional P710 on the minimum wage of workers in the National Capital Region.

"Tumaas 'yung labor productivity for the past 12 years ng 59 percent pero wala hong kapalit 'yun na real wage increase," Luis Manuel Corral, TUCP vice president, said.

If the Tripartite Wage Board will allow this increase, the minimum wage in Metro Manila will be P1,247, the report said.

For its part, the DOLE said the wage increase will be a long shot.

"Basically ang criteria ay 'yung needs ng workers, isang set 'yun tapos 'yung isa naman 'yung capacity of the employer to pay. Isang set 'yun and then the needs of the economy," Undersecretary Ana Dione said. — By ANNA FELICIA BAJO, RSJ, GMA News

Duterte certifies ‘end to endo’ bill as urgent

He cited the need to immediately enact Senate Bill 1826, titled “An Act Strengthening Workers Right to Security of Tenure,” in a letter to Senate President Vicente Sotto III dated Sept. 21.

MANILA, Philippines — MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte has certified as urgent a bill that seeks to prohibit contractualization and labor-only contracting, practices that he said are causing poverty and underemployment in the country.

He cited the need to immediately enact Senate Bill 1826, titled “An Act Strengthening Workers Right to Security of Tenure,” in a letter to Senate President Vicente Sotto III dated Sept. 21.

The President said the measure would strengthen workers’ security of tenure by prohibiting the “prevalent” practices of contractualization and labor-only contracting, describing these as something that “continue to immerse our workers in a quagmire of poverty and underemployment.”

“It is now certified urgent by the President, in line with his promise to put an end to endo (end of contract),” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said at a press briefing yesterday.

When the president certifies a bill as urgent, it will not be covered by the rule which states that a measure can only be approved on final reading three days after its approval on second reading.

The House of Representatives approved its version of the bill last January.

Roque said the Senate version aims to bar all forms of labor-only contracting and does not exempt contractors with huge capital.

Under the bill, there is labor-only contracting if the job contractor, whether licensed or not, merely recruits, supplies or places workers to a contractee, whether he has substantial capital or investment.

If the bill is enacted, companies would have to hire employees directly and could no longer source workers from employment agencies.

“This effectively repeals the provision of the Labor Code that permits labor-only contracting as long as the company has enough capital and assets,” Roque said.

Labor groups are becoming more optimistic that the country is closer to ending illegal short-term employment.

“We are near the goal. It’s closer than it has ever been, but we still have some work to do. The Senate has been given a directive to craft a law that will end contractualization. We must see this through and ensure that the proposed measure shall address the weaknesses of existing laws on security of tenure,” said labor coalition Nagkaisa chairman Sonny Matula.

He said the workers’ campaign to eradicate the endo scheme and other illegal forms of contractualization got a big push after Duterte certified the security of tenure bill as urgent.

“Labor’s persistence has so far paid off. Our relentless efforts have shown dividends. After more than two years, the Duterte administration has finally made a big step towards the fulfillment of a campaign promise,” Matula noted.

To ensure that legislators act on the certification, he said labor groups would mount more rallies to ask the lawmakers to pass the bill at the soonest time.“With the election season fast approaching, the Senate and House of Representatives, voting separately, are under pressure to ratify the harmonized version and submit the law for the President’s enactment,” Matula said. The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) also lauded Duterte for certifying as urgent the security of tenure (SOT) bill, which was already approved by Congress on third reading.

Gerard Seno, ALU-TUCP national executive vice president, said the certification of the SOT bill is definitely a positive vibe to workers whose morale has been low due to rising cost of living.“We pray that it will be passed by Congress consistent with the presidential promise instead of being watered down by the corporate vested interests which are overrepresented in Congress,” he said.TUCP party-list Rep. Raymond Mendoza said the certification from the President is an early Christmas gift for workers who continue to struggle in making both ends meet.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III claimed that DOLE has long recommended the need to certify the SOT bill as urgent.

“We are now looking forward to the better implementation of regulation ensuring security of tenure of workers with the expected passage of the SOT bill,” he said.Labor Undersecretary Joel Maglunsod hopes that the bill will be passed by November, if not early next year.– Alexis Romero (The Philippine Star) With Mayen Jaymalin

Nagkaisa hails passage of Security of Tenure Bill

SECURITY OF TENURE. The House of Representatives passes the security of tenure bill on 3rd reading. File photo by Ben Nabong/Rappler

Labor Coalition Nagkaisa! is satisfied over the passage on third reading of HB 6908 on the Security of Tenure at the House of Representatives.

Nagkaisa! said that “the SOT bill is a great improvement to existing legislation as it gives more teeth to the government by providing penalties for those who will violate the security of tenure laws.”

“This is the farthest a proposed law on SOT has gone for decades,” said Nagkaisa! “Now, it’s time to get the Senate moving on their proposed SOT measure.”

“HB 6908 gives more flesh and blood to the guaranteed right to security of tenure,” Nagkaisa! said. “It’s not perfect or ideal, but we can live with it,” said Nagkaisa!, the largest labor coalition in the country.

Fear of employers allayed

Nagkaisa! also addressed fears of employers who went on record saying that they will have a “big problem” if the proposed measure was passed. “If the big problem employers have about HB 6908 refers to the potential cutbacks in the windfall of profits a number of employers have been amassing through the massive abuse of workers via contractualization for decades, the bill intends to do just that,” Nagkaisa! said. “Employers who do not abuse workers through contractualization have nothing to fear,” Nagkaisa! added.

“Never in the history of employment relationship in the country has workers enjoying regular employment and implementation of strict rules in labor contracting been detrimental to the economy and job generation,” Nagakaisa! said.

“Job generation is a function of the development of sectors of the economy influenced by economic policies of the government, and not by labor contracting practices,” Nagkaisa explained.

A “serious problem” employers noted is that if the SOT bill becomes a law, it will be detrimental to the economy and job creation. Nagksaisa! countered the argument. “Workers with regular employment generate more income, thus, with more purchasing power contribute to increasing demand in goods and services that lead to higher income taxes and VAT for the government. These are all good for the economy,” said Nagkaisa.

“The fear that the HB can lead to unemployment is only possible if they are not paying their contractual employees what the law currently demands. In other words, their argument is an admission that they are doing business at the expense of workers’ rights – and they want to continue doing so,” Nagkaisa! added.

The recent statement by the employers didn’t specify which provisions of the bill they strongly disagree with.

Nagkaisa! said it was grateful to Labor Committee Chair Rep. Randolph S. Ting  who steered the discussions and Rep. Raymond Mendoza of TUCP Partylist and Rep. Tom Villarin of Akbayan Partylist who co-authored the SOT Bill and helped defend it together with Nagkaisa.

Nagkaisa labor coalition supports House Bill 6908

With its provisions that can be considered as marked improvement from existing laws and regulations pertaining to labor contracting, particularly Article 106 of the labor code and DO 174, rules and regulations on labor contracting promulgated by the DOLE last March 2017, Nagkaisa!, the largest labor coalition of worker's union and labor organization in the country supports HB 6908, an act strengthening workers security of tenure, which was approved on second reading by the house of representatives last January 23.

Among these provisions are:

a) Disallowing subcontracting of jobs already contracted out by principal employers;

(b) Disallowing any form of fixed-term employment;

(c) Any one of the three conditions found present on the the employment relationship between the labor contractor and employees dispatched to principal employers, such employment relationship is deemed labor-only contracting. These conditions are (1) labor contractor has no substantial capital in the form of investment and tools, (2) the labor contractor has no control over the worker's method and means in performing their function, and (3) workers recruited and dispatched perform functions which are directly related to the principal busines of the employer; and

(d) Labor contractors found violating labor-only contracting provisions of this act shall be fined Php 30, 000 for each worker engaged in labor-only contracting arrangement but the total amount of the fine shall not exceed Php 5 million.

Nagkaisa! admits that HB 6908 is not a perfect bill to prohibit all forms of labor contracting. However, the marked improvement in its provisions would surely address to a great deal widespread use of contractual labor in the country, and thus strengthening workers' security of tenure and the exercise of their right to organize and collectively bargain compared to the present laws and regulations pertaining to labor contracting.

Nagkaisa now calls on the Senate to introduce more prohibitive provisions in their version of bills pertaining to security of tenure so as to further improve what HB 6908 has achieved.

Finally, we thanked the efforts made by Rep. Randolph S. Ting, Chairperson of the Labor Committee, representatives of TUCP and Akbayan! partylists, and the rest of the co-authors of HB 6908 for successfully defending and passing it on second reading.

Security of tenure bill remains imperfect—labor coalition

Rappler photo

THE country’s largest labor coalition on Thursday called on lawmakers to add more teeth to House Bill (HB) 6908, also known as the security of tenure bill.

In a news statement, the Nagkaisa labor coalition said the new legislation is still imperfect since it still allows some forms of contractual labor.

Nagkaisa, however, threw its support behind the legislation, which it said is already a step toward finally providing better protection to contractual workers.

“The marked improvement in its provisions would surely address to a great deal widespread use of contractual labor in the country and, thus, strengthening workers’ security of tenure and the exercise of their right to organize and collectively bargain compared to the present laws and regulations pertaining to labor contracting,” Nagkaisa said.

On Tuesday the House of Representatives approved on second reading HB 6908.

Among the salient points of the legislation is its prohibition of subcontracting of jobs already contracted out by principal employers and any form of fixed-term employment.

It will imposes a fine, ranging from P30,000 to P5 million, on labor contractors who will violate its provisions.

Nagkaisa thanked the House Committee on Labor and Employment and the representatives of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) and Akbayan party-lists, and the coauthors of HB 6908 for supporting the bill.

The group is now urging the Lower House and the Senate to add stiffer penalties for employers who will violate the provisions of HB 6908.

“We call on the Senate to introduce more prohibitive provisions in their version of bills pertaining to security of tenure, so as to further improve what HB 6908 has achieved,” Nagkaisa said.

Almost 2 million workers are expected to benefit from HB 6908 once it takes effect.

In a text message, Federation of Free Workers, a member of Nagkaisa, said it will also hold rallies and forums in the coming weeks to gain public support for the bill.

Aside from the legislative measures, members of Nagkaisa are also set to meet with President Duterte next month to discuss the new EO, which is expected to further restrict contractualization in the country.

“Malacañang said [a] meeting is expected to take place on February 9,” Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III, for his part, said.

Associated Labor Union-TUCP, another Nagkaisa member, said they will urge the President to finally sign the new EO during the meeting.

The meeting was originally scheduled in December 2017, but was later reset due to Duterte’s busy schedule that time.

Nagkaisa is a coalition of 40 major labor groups in the country. - By Samuel P. Medenilla - January 25, 2018

Labor group welcomes House bill vs. “endo”

PASSED ON 2ND READING

Rappler photo

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) welcomed on Thursday the passage of House Bill 6908, or the proposed “Security of Tenure Act,” on second reading at the House of Representatives.

While it does not completely eradicate the practice of “end of contract” or “endo,” TUCP president and Rep. Raymond Mendoza said the bill paves the way for stringent hurdles before a job contractor can register. It also imposes heavier fines for violators.

HB 6908 makes it easier to declare a contractor as practicing illegal “labor-only” contracting or LOC.

A contractor can be deemed as engaging in endo based on any of the following criteria: no substantial investment, tools or equipment; and no handle on workers’ methods and means of accomplishing work.

“If declared LOC, the principal employer shall be responsible to the workers as if he directly employed them,” Mendoza noted.

“Under the proposed bill, it will be simpler to go after the contractor. This will ensure regularization of anywhere from 2 million to 6 million workers,” he said.

Fixed-term employment and further subcontracting work that has already been contracted out will be prohibited.

Mendoza said the TUCP wants workers to be regularized under the principal employer, not under the agency or contractor.

“The agency is only the vehicle used by the employers to avoid their legal, social and financial obligations towards their workers. We all need to help regularize more workers to make our society more fair and equitable,” he said.

TUCP also welcomed Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III’s announcement that President Rodrigo Duterte will soon issue an executive order against endo.

Passed on January 23, HB 6908 makes both the employer and contractor liable if the contractor fails to pay the wages, allowances, and benefits of employees.

The bill also requires “just cause” to terminate the services of a regular employee. It defines an employee as one hired for an indefinite period.

Relievers, project, and seasonal employees will also get the same rights as regular employees during their contract period. —Rie Takumi/VDS, GMA News